make poverty historyhttp://www.ekklesia.co.uk/taxonomy/term/1283/all
enGlobal poverty 'central moral challenge' says Scottish church leaderhttp://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/10417
<!-- google_ad_section_start -->
<!-- google_ad_section_end --><div class="field field-type-text field-field-teaser">
<div class="field-items">
<div class="field-item odd">
<p>Eradicating poverty around the world is the "central moral challenge of our generation" a church leader has told Gordon Brown in a letter.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="field field-type-text field-field-body">
<div class="field-items">
<div class="field-item odd">
<p>Eradicating poverty around the world is the "central moral challenge of our generation" a church leader has told Gordon Brown.</p>
<p>The message came at the weekend as groups, churches and committees all over the world observed the UN International Day for the Eradication of Poverty (World Poverty Day). </p>
<p>This year, the 20th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, it focused on the hardships faced by children and their families.</p>
<p>In a letter to the British Prime Minister, the Rev Ian Galloway, Convenor of the Church and Society Council of the Church of Scotland, urged Gordon Brown to tackle childhood poverty in the UK and beyond, despite the global recession.</p>
<p>Mr Galloway said: “To make poverty history is the central moral challenge of our generation. It is linked to climate change. It is linked to the credit crunch. It is linked to who we are as human beings. Are we willing to make sacrifices for people who we will never know?” </p>
<p>“The eradication of poverty cannot remain a job for the powerful, but must become a calling for us all” he continued. “I encourage everyone to join the struggle. Together, we can make a real difference in the lives of those affected by poverty, and make progress towards making poverty history.”</p>
<p>“At this time of global recession, it is even more important that we do not forget the poorest in our world” he said.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
Living EconomyNews Briefglobal povertymake poverty historyUK NewsMon, 19 Oct 2009 15:31:51 +0000staff writers10417 at http://www.ekklesia.co.ukMake Poverty History: what can we learn for future campaigns?http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/9381
<!-- google_ad_section_start --><p>Speaker: Dr Nick Sireau<br />
Chair: Dr Armine Ishkanian</p>
<!-- google_ad_section_end --><p><a href="http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/9381" target="_blank">read more</a></p>Living EconomyPeople and Powerglobal justiceLondon School of Economics and Political Sciencemake poverty historyEventsSat, 02 May 2009 08:54:23 +0000Jordan Tchilingirian9381 at http://www.ekklesia.co.ukG8 falling further behind on poverty commitments says DATA Reporthttp://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/7310
<div class="image-attach-teaser image-attach-node-7316" style="width: 200px;"><a href="/node/7310"><img src="http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/sites/ekklesia.co.uk/files/files/images/bono.thumbnail.jpg" alt="Bono at G8" title="Bono at G8" class="image image-thumbnail " width="200" height="150" /></a></div>
<!-- google_ad_section_start -->
<!-- google_ad_section_end --><div class="field field-type-text field-field-teaser">
<div class="field-items">
<div class="field-item odd">
<p>Targeted aid is getting good results in Africa, but the G8 are falling further behind on meeting their commitments, a new report from the organisation set up by U2 frontman Bono, has said.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="field field-type-text field-field-body">
<div class="field-items">
<div class="field-item odd">
<p>Targeted aid is getting good results in Africa, but the G8 are falling further behind on meeting their commitments, a new report from the organisation set up by U2 frontman Bono, has said.</p>
<p>Drawing the ire of Bob Geldoff, who branded the G8 "a contemptuous joke" the DATA Report 2008, released in Paris by ONE the global anti-poverty organization, shows the G8 are falling further behind on the commitment they made in 2005 to contribute an additional $22 billion in assistance to Africa by 2010. </p>
<p>According to the report whose foreword is written by Archbishop Desmond Tutu the G8 are halfway to the 2010 deadline, but so far have only delivered $3 billion, or 14 percent, of the $22 billion commitment. If the G8 continue at their current pace, they will collectively fall far short of where they pledged to be by 2010.</p>
<p>While the pace of delivery is deeply concerning, say campaigners, the good news is that the assistance that has been delivered is making a real, measurable difference on the ground in lives saved and futures brightened. </p>
<p>Because of recent increases in development assistance 2.1 million Africans are on life-saving AIDS medication, up from only 50,000 in 2002, and 26 million children were immunized and against a group of life-threatening diseases between 2001 and 2006. 29 million African children were also able to enter school for the first time as a direct result of debt relief and increased assistance between 1999 and 2005, and by 2007, 59 million bed nets had been distributed by the Global Fund alone, helping to dramatically reduce malaria rates in countries such as Tanzania, Rwanda and Ethiopia. </p>
<p>These statistics make clear that targeted development assistance, implemented in partnership with effective African leadership, works, says One, and that "there are no more excuses for not delivering quickly on what the G8 promised". </p>
<p>The DATA Report lays out a suggested roadmap for how the G8 can get on track to meet their 2010 goals by scaling up measures that have been proven to work. </p>
<p>The DATA Report 2008 was released at a press conference in Paris today (Wednesday) led by Bono, Bob Geldof, Michel Kazatchkine, Executive Director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, as well as singer and activist Angelique Kidjo Arunma Oteh, Vice President, Corporate Services of the African Development Bank and French tennis star Yannick Noah. </p>
<p>Launching the 2008 DATA Report, Bono said: "There's good news and bad news ... the good news is that the aid money that has been delivered is making a real and measurable difference in lives saved and kids in school. In the last few years, more than 2 million Africans have been given access to life-saving AIDS drugs, 26 million children have been immunized and 29 million kids in Africa are going to school for the first time. But as I've been saying, the good news makes the bad news worse ... the G8’s failure to follow through on its commitments has left millions of lives in the balance and a distrust in the electorate, leading many to believe that G8 meetings are more about photo ops than a real commitment to Liberté, Égalité and Fraternité."</p>
<p>Bob Geldof, advocate and DATA principal said: "14 per cent! What a contemptuous joke the G8 have become. The poor of Africa were given a signed guarantee by the leaders of the world's largest economies. This contract has two more years to run and it is now clear that most of these countries have no intention of fulfilling their pledge. </p>
<p>"Besides furthering the misery of the poor, hungry and ill, this is also a strategic blunder of massive import to us in Europe. While China appears to fully understand and invest in the massive wealth of Africa and consequently retain a growing influence on a continent 8 miles from ours, we dither, lie and resile from undertakings only worth a pittance in the first place. The cost of our aid was small; the consequence of our failure will be great indeed."</p>
<p>In the foreword to the 2008 DATA Report, Archbishop Emeritus Desmond M Tutu, now also serving as International Patron to DATA and ONE, wrote: “We want to achieve success not through a hand out, but through hard work, persistence, creativity and a true partnership with the developed world. We’re not there yet, but we have the roadmap to get there if the West keeps the commitments it made, with such fanfare, at Gleneagles and if African leaders keep their promises to their citizens too.”</p>
<p>According to the 2008 DATA Report, while the G8 as a whole are off track, some countries are doing better than others and some have made more substantial promises than others. </p>
<p>The European members of the G8 -- France, Germany, Italy and the UK – made the biggest promises to Africa as a percentage of their national wealth and together are responsible for 75 percent of the $22 billion committed. While the scope of their commitments should be applauded, they are off track to meet them, say campaigners. </p>
<p>Writing in his foreword, Archbishop Tutu spoke directly to the importance of Europe keeping the commitments it has made: “Intentions are one thing, follow through is another and I am deeply worried that France, Germany and Italy are not going to keep the promises they made to Africa in 2005, because then all of Europe will be behind. President Sarkozy, Chancellor Merkel and Prime Minister Berlusconi need to hear more from their citizens on this subject if they are to make the right decisions, both for Europe and Africa,” he wrote. </p>
<p>In a new estimation by DATA of G8 budget projections, the G8 is expected to increase assistance to Africa in 2008 by $2.6 billion. This is an important improvement over previous years, say campaigners, but still far from what is needed. The G8 would need to increase assistance to Africa by $6.4 billion in 2008 in order to be on track to meet their 2010 commitment. </p>
<p>The DATA Report makes clear that it is still possible for the G8 to keep its historic commitment to Africa. But whether or not it is kept is up to the leaders of the G8 and the citizens in whose name the promises were made, say campaigners. </p>
<p>Citizen activism led the G8 to make the 2005 commitments to Africa in the wake of Live 8 and a global campaign aimed at 'making poverty history'. Given the G8’s slow pace in delivering on that promise, campaigners say it’s clear that citizen pressure will once again have to be applied to ensure that promise is kept. </p>
<p><em>To help mobilize citizens to encourage their governments to keep their promises to Africa, DATA and ONE are launching an email petition to G8 leaders. To learn more and sign the petition, go to <a href="http://www.one.org" title="http://www.one.org">http://www.one.org</a></em></p>
<p>The 2008 DATA Report is available here: <a href="http://www.one.org/report" title="http://www.one.org/report">http://www.one.org/report</a> </p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
Living EconomyNews Briefbob geldofbonodataDATA Report 2008debt aids trade africadesmond tutug8live 8make poverty historyMillennium Development Goalsoneoverseas aidu2Yannick NoahWorld NewsWed, 18 Jun 2008 13:35:08 +0000staff writers7310 at http://www.ekklesia.co.ukAnnouncement on overseas aid welcomed by development agencieshttp://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/5887
<!-- google_ad_section_start -->
<!-- google_ad_section_end --><div class="field field-type-text field-field-teaser">
<div class="field-items">
<div class="field-item odd">
<p>The news announced yesterday that the government's overseas aid spending will increase by almost 17% a year to form a new record high has been welcomed by overseas development groups.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="field field-type-text field-field-body">
<div class="field-items">
<div class="field-item odd">
<p>The news announced yesterday that the government's overseas aid spending will increase by almost 17% a year to form a new record high has been welcomed by overseas development groups.</p>
<p>The groups said the plans announced by the chancellor Alistair Darling put Britain firmly on track to achieve the targets set at Gleneagles. </p>
<p>The comprehensive spending review revealed that the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's measure of official development assistance, which includes money spent by other departments such as the Foreign Office on peacekeeping in Darfur and the Congo, will go up by 16.9% a year on average to reach £9.1bn by 2010-11. This represents 0.56% of national income - the highest ever share.</p>
<p>George Gelber, Head of Policy at CAFOD, Catholic Agency for Overseas Development said: "CAFOD welcomes the year on year increase in development assistance announced by Alistair Darling. This is really good news for poor people in developing countries and for all the people who campaigned so hard in Make Poverty History." </p>
<p>"Overall development assistance will increase to over £9 billion in 2010/11 with Department for International Development's share of this set at £7.9 billion. This will enable the UK to meet its historic commitment to achieve the UN 0.7% target in 2013. It is good news for Africa too, which will get at least half of the projected increase.</p>
<p>"Aid works is the message that is coming from CAFOD's partners ­ in Ethiopia, for instance, aid to Ethiopia in 2006 helped an extra 1.2 million more children attend primary school: net enrolment rates have increased to 71% for girls and 75% for boys."</p>
<p>But Gelber pointed out that climate change "threatens many of the gains from rising aid budgets. Unaccounted for when 0.7% commitments were agreed, adaptation to climate change already is a reality, and needs additional funding to existing aid commitments."</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
Living EconomyNews Briefmake poverty historyoverseas aidUK NewsWed, 10 Oct 2007 09:20:57 +0000staff writers5887 at http://www.ekklesia.co.ukBBC trust attacks coverage of anti-poverty action in entertainment showshttp://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/5372
<!-- google_ad_section_start -->
<!-- google_ad_section_end --><div class="field field-type-text field-field-teaser">
<div class="field-items">
<div class="field-item odd">
<p>A report published by the new BBC trust today is critical of some programmes for allowing celebrity-backed anti-poverty groups to appear in entertainment shows. Their backers say this reflects reality, an is an antidote to comercialism.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="field field-type-text field-field-body">
<div class="field-items">
<div class="field-item odd">
<p>A report to be published by the new BBC trust today (18 Jun 2007) is critical of some of its own programmes for allowing celebrity-backed campaigning groups to have too high a profile in its schedules, reports James Robinson for The Observer newspaper.</p>
<p>But campaigners say it is wrong and unfair that ordinary people’s concerns with these issues should somehow be excluded altogether from entertainment strands – or that the BBC’s involvement in promoting wealth through gambling via the National Lottery should be regarded as “non-political”, whereas anti-poverty concerns are deemed “political”.</p>
<p>According to a draft seen by The Observer, the new report’s findings reflect concerns at senior levels of the BBC about the risk of allowing “special interest groups”, such as Make Poverty History and the Drop the Debt campaign, to get their messages through entertainment shows rather than news programmes.</p>
<p>A special Christmas episode of The Vicar of Dibley, a popular sitcom starring Dawn French, has been singled out for particular criticism in the past – and this example is understood to be repeated in the new BBC report, in spite of contrary points raised by charities and members of the public.</p>
<p>The programme showed parishioners being urged to support the Make Poverty History campaign – something which happened not just in churches, but in non-religious community groups and other faith groups across the country. </p>
<p>While the BBC reports global anti-poverty initiatives, its coverage is usually limited to headline events. </p>
<p>The vast majority of entertainment shows and soap operas make no mention of global poverty issues.</p>
<p>The Observer says the report was commissioned by the BBC board of governors and carried out in consultation with senior management. It is being published by the trust that replaced the governors in January 2007.</p>
<p>The report includes 12 new guidelines for programme-makers designed to ensure the BBC preserves a reputation for impartiality. </p>
<p>Under the terms of the corporation's royal charter, the trust – an unelected body – is responsible for guaranteeing the independence and editorial integrity of the BBC.</p>
<p>The BBC says: “The purpose of the BBC Trust is to work on behalf of licence fee payers, ensuring the BBC provides high quality output and good value for all UK citizens, and it protects the independence of the BBC. To achieve this, the Trustees must keep in close contact with licence fee payers, being aware of and understanding their expectations of the BBC.”</p>
<p>Writing in The Observer, BBC trust member Richard Tait, a former editor-in-chief of ITN and one of the new report's authors, declared: “The BBC cannot allow its output to be taken over by campaigning groups any more than by political parties.”</p>
<p>However the report does not appear to regard the BBC’s relationship with business organizations as constituting any kind of questionable influence.</p>
<p>Another target of the anti-charity and cause lobby is likely to be action on global warming, which has attracted huge public support – but will be seen as “political” for questioning the behaviour of governments and corporations.</p>
<p>As well as being a professor of broadcasting at Cardiff University, Mr Tait holds shares in British Telecom. His wife is in regular employment with the BBC and he has served on a Foreign Office advisory panel. His list of interests does not mention any involvement in global poverty concerns.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
EqualityLiving EconomyNews BriefBBC Trustbroadcastingcharity donationsDawn FrenchDrop the Debtmake poverty historyNational LotteryUK NewsVicar of DibleyMon, 18 Jun 2007 06:36:07 +0000staff writers5372 at http://www.ekklesia.co.ukCampaigners descend on central London ahead of G8 meetinghttp://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/5323
<!-- google_ad_section_start -->
<!-- google_ad_section_end --><div class="field field-type-text field-field-teaser">
<div class="field-items">
<div class="field-item odd">
<p>Thousands of campaigners of all ages descended on central London on Saturday, 2 June, to send the UK Prime Minister a clear message: the world can't wait, make aid work!</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="field field-type-text field-field-body">
<div class="field-items">
<div class="field-item odd">
<p>Thousands of campaigners of all ages descended on central London on Saturday, 2 June, to send the UK Prime Minister a clear message: the world can't wait, make aid work! </p>
<p>Protestors, many wearing white as they had for the Make Poverty History rally two years ago, lined the banks of the River Thames to raise their voices against poverty. </p>
<p>CAFOD supporters were there in strength, with hundreds joining in debates and activities before marching to the river and unleashing a volley of noise using alarm clocks, phone alarms, bells, whistles and drums. </p>
<p>The rally sent an urgent message to the leaders of the G8 industrialised nations at their forthcoming summit in Germany. </p>
<p>Two years ago, the G8 pledged to make poverty history by doubling aid and cancelling poor countries' debts. </p>
<p>But the rich world is not on target to keep its promise. The G8 must act faster and go further if this generation is to end poverty, say campaigners.</p>
<p>Those gathered included Christians from across the church traditions, including many evangelicals whose interest in such issues has grown over the last decade.</p>
<p>Micah Challenge UK is part of the international Micah Challenge movement of evangelical Christians lobbying their governments to do more to ensure the fulfilment of the MDGs to alleviate extreme poverty by 2015. </p>
<p>World leaders signed up to the MDGs in 2000 and to mark the half-way point, Micah Challenge UK launched the ‘Blow the Whistle’ campaign to check the 'half-time scores' and keep the UK Government moving on its promises to the poor.</p>
<p>Events on 2 June 2007 kicked off with a Blow the Whistle Worship Service at the Methodist Central Hall in central London. </p>
<p>Special guests included representatives of some of the world’s poorest nations as well as the head of Tearfund, Matthew Frost, and the chief executive of World Vision, Charles Badenoch.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
Living EconomyNews Briefaidg8g8 summitmake poverty historyUK NewsMon, 04 Jun 2007 17:28:15 +0000staff writers5323 at http://www.ekklesia.co.ukPope backs calls for poverty to take centre stage at G8http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/5242
<!-- google_ad_section_start -->
<!-- google_ad_section_end --><div class="field field-type-text field-field-teaser">
<div class="field-items">
<div class="field-item odd">
<p>With the G8 summit only one month away, the Pope has backed a call from a worldwide delegation of bishops to put poverty at the heart of the agenda.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="field field-type-text field-field-body">
<div class="field-items">
<div class="field-item odd">
<p>With the G8 summit only one month away, the Pope has backed a call from a worldwide delegation of bishops to put poverty at the heart of the agenda. </p>
<p>Pope Benedict XVI received cardinals, archbishops and bishops from across the globe as part of a Catholic campaign to ensure that poverty takes centre stage at the summit of world leaders in Germany in June, reports the Aid agency Cafod. </p>
<p>The Pope urged the delegation of church leaders to “continue campaigning for the welfare of all human beings all over the world”. </p>
<p>One member of the delegation, Cardinal Oscar Andrés Rodríguez from Honduras, said: “The Pope urged the German Chancellor [Angela] Merkel to put poverty at the heart of the 2007 G8 summit, and we welcome this initiative. </p>
<p>"We cannot accept that poor people perish every day because they lack shelter, basic medicines and safe drinking water. The world does have the means to eliminate poverty.” </p>
<p>The delegation is part of the global campaign 'Make Aid Work: the World Can't Wait', co-ordinated by the international Catholic networks, CIDSE and Caritas Internationalis. </p>
<p>Paul Chitnis, President of CIDSE, said: “We do not only face global warming caused by climate change, we also face global warming caused by the growing anger of the dispossessed. G8 leaders have to be aware that our global situation needs urgent and adequate policy responses.” </p>
<p>The delegation of church leaders has toured Europe, and last week met UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, German President Horst Koehler and Chancellor Angela Merkel and Prime Minster Romano Prodi of Italy. </p>
<p>In a statement, the delegation expressed their disappointment by the lack of progress on the part of the G8 countries. They said that they expect world leaders to assume responsibility for promoting human development and global solidarity. </p>
<p>They also called for continued efforts to resolve the problem of developing countries' debt in a sustainable and just way as well as coordinated measures against corruption, and the promises to increase development aid to be kept.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
Living EconomyNews Briefg8g8 meetingg8 summitGermanymake poverty historyPopeWorld NewsWed, 09 May 2007 07:03:42 +0000staff writers5242 at http://www.ekklesia.co.ukCardinal calls on G8 leaders to keep their promiseshttp://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/5193
<div class="image-attach-teaser image-attach-node-5192" style="width: 200px;"><a href="/node/5193"><img src="http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/sites/ekklesia.co.uk/files/files/images/cardinal_cormac.thumbnail.JPG" alt="The Cardinal at Downing Street" title="The Cardinal at Downing Street" class="image image-thumbnail " width="200" height="150" /></a></div>
<!-- google_ad_section_start -->
<!-- google_ad_section_end --><div class="field field-type-text field-field-teaser">
<div class="field-items">
<div class="field-item odd">
<p>Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor has led an international delegation to 10 Downing Street to remind Tony Blair of Britain’s commitment to the G8 pledges made at Gleneagles.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="field field-type-text field-field-body">
<div class="field-items">
<div class="field-item odd">
<p>Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, the President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, has led an international delegation of bishops from Africa, Asia and Europe to 10 Downing Street to remind Tony Blair of Britain’s commitment to the G8 pledges made at Gleneagles in 2005.</p>
<p>As Germany prepares to host the “Group of Eight”, the bishops are taking part in a tour calling on the new German government to get the G8 nations back on track to meet their commitment to double aid to Africa* - increasing it by $25 billion-a-year by 2010.</p>
<p>The Cardinal chaired yesterday’s meeting attended by eight senior church figures - including Archbishop Onaiyekan of Abuja, Nigeria; and Archbishop Monsengwo of Kisangani, Democratic Republic of Congo.</p>
<p>The Cardinal highlighted the important role the Church has to play in reminding the G8 leaders of their moral duty to keep their promises.</p>
<p>“I thanked the Prime Minister and the government for the good work already done in drawing the world’s attention to the plight of those in need, particularly in Africa. I urged him to continue his leadership in this respect at the forthcoming G8 Summit in Berlin” he said. </p>
<p>The Catholic Bishops are lobbying national leaders in London, Berlin and Rome as part of an international Catholic campaign called: “The World Can’t Wait: Make Aid Work”. </p>
<p>The tour will conclude with a meeting with Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
Living EconomyNews Briefg8g8 meetingmake poverty historyWorld NewsTue, 01 May 2007 16:46:48 +0000staff writers5193 at http://www.ekklesia.co.ukRich nations failing to meet aid promises to Africahttp://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/5139
<!-- google_ad_section_start -->
<!-- google_ad_section_end --><div class="field field-type-text field-field-teaser">
<div class="field-items">
<div class="field-item odd">
<p>The world's richest nations have been accused of foot-dragging over aid pledges to Africa made during the Make Poverty History campaign.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="field field-type-text field-field-body">
<div class="field-items">
<div class="field-item odd">
<p>The world's richest nations have been accused of foot-dragging over aid pledges to Africa made during the Make Poverty History campaign.</p>
<p>Their lack of action was described last night as "grotesque" and a threat to the lives of the world's poor by the body set up by Tony Blair to monitor the results of Britain's Gleneagles summit.</p>
<p>The British Prime Minister urged the world's richest nations not to backslide on the promises of aid for Africa that they made, and warned that G8 nations would suffer the consequences in their own countries if they failed to live up to their pledges.</p>
<p>He was speaking in Berlin after it emerged that only about £1bn of the £12.5bn aid promised at Gleaneagles by 2010 had been given so far. </p>
<p>Tony Blair said: "If we do not take a responsible and long-term view of Africa and its need to develop and make progress, then we will end up ultimately with our own self-interest ... being damaged as a result of the poverty, conflict, mass migration and spread of terrorism."</p>
<p>Almost two years after the G8 group of leading industrial nations promised to boost development assistance by $50bn a year by 2010, the Africa Progress Panel headed by the former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan said rich countries were only 10% of the way to their target.</p>
<p>"If the efforts to double aid by 2010 are not increased soon it will be too late," Mr Annan said as the APP presented its findings in Berlin to the prime minister and the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, who will host this year's G8 summit in early June.</p>
<p>"In 2005 we did well, by 2006 we were sliding, and unless we now make about $5bn available a year we will not make that target," he said.</p>
<p>Mr Annan said the commitment to doubling aid had fallen year on year since Gleneagles.</p>
<p>Bob Geldof, the musician and lobbyist who also sits on the APP, said the promises of "economic justice" made at Gleneagles, on which Mr Blair had staked his legacy as prime minister, were in danger of collapsing. This amounted to a "grotesque abrogation of responsibility".</p>
<p>The former rock star added: "No one wants to see the compact of Gleneagles destroyed. Economic justice is the most sacred promise you can make, because if you break it you kill people. We cannot be the instruments of death - we need to be the instruments of life".</p>
<p>Mr Geldof singled out Germany and Italy for criticism, but Mr Blair said he was confident the international community's will to act was still there.</p>
<p>"If we do not take a responsible and long-term view of Africa, and its need to develop and make progress, we will end up ultimately with our own self-interest back in countries like Germany and the UK being damaged as a result of the poverty, the conflict, the mass migration, the spread of terrorism and so on," he said.</p>
<p>"So I think there is a strong moral cause but I think it's a cause closely allied to our own self-interest. We know that there is very much more that still needs to be done," Mr Blair told a press conference.</p>
<p>He has successfully pressed Mrs Merkel to put Africa back at the top of the G8 agenda in Heiligendamm in June.</p>
<p>Britain, one of the few leading western countries on track to meet its Gleneagles commitments, believes that action so far falls significantly short of the increases pledged and is urging its partners to step up their efforts. While hailing efforts to boost HIV/Aids treatment and the increased numbers of African children in school, Mr Blair said: "We know there's more that needs to be done in terms of aid, the world trade talks, building up Africa's capability, for example for conflict resolution and the peacekeeping force that it will require.</p>
<p>"We also know there are still far too many Africans who die when their death is preventable with our help.</p>
<p>The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development reported earlier this month that once one-off debt relief packages for Iraq and Nigeria were taken into account, aid flows from the west fell for the first time in a decade in 2006.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
Living EconomyNews BriefaidGleneagles summitmake poverty historypledgesWorld NewsWed, 25 Apr 2007 09:46:14 +0000staff writers5139 at http://www.ekklesia.co.ukAid agency works to set agenda ahead of G8 meetinghttp://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/4949
<!-- google_ad_section_start -->
<!-- google_ad_section_end --><div class="field field-type-text field-field-teaser">
<div class="field-items">
<div class="field-item odd">
<p>Leaders of G8 countries must take the next steps to meet their commitments to end extreme poverty and stop AIDS' devastation in the developing world, Christian aid agency World Vision has said in a paper released for this week's meeting of government development ministers.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="field field-type-text field-field-body">
<div class="field-items">
<div class="field-item odd">
<p>Leaders of G8 countries must take the next steps to meet their commitments to end extreme poverty and stop AIDS' devastation in the developing world, Christian aid agency World Vision has said in a paper released for this week's meeting of government development ministers. </p>
<p>World Vision is calling on G8 leaders to act now to prioritize children; ensure universal access to care, prevention and treatment; and set up a high-level group that will oversee and monitor progress on G8 commitments to fight AIDS. </p>
<p>AIDS has already orphaned 15 million children. In 2006 alone, it killed an estimated 380,000 children under the age of 15. Of all global AIDS-related deaths in 2006, 72 percent occurred in sub-Saharan Africa. With increased resources, million of lives can be saved, campaigners say. </p>
<p>Directors of World Vision's national offices in 25 African countries have emphasized several of these key points directly with the G8 president's office in advance of agenda-setting meetings. </p>
<p>Development ministers from the Group of Eight nations are now meeting to prepare for the summit in Germany this June. The agenda will include issues related to the Millennium Development Goals to cut poverty in half by 2015, based on promises made to the poor by world leaders at the 2005 summit. </p>
<p>"It is essential that we now ensure that children who are vulnerable or orphaned by AIDS are a priority when this funding is used,'' said Robert Zachritz, senior policy advisor for global development at World Vision U.S. and a co-author of the paper. "World leaders must work together to fight global poverty and disease." </p>
<p>World Vision's new policy briefing urges an increase in funding to achieve universal access to prevention, treatment and care with regard to AIDS, a strengthening of health systems and the establishment of a permanent G8 Working Group on AIDS. </p>
<p><em>Copies of the paper are available at: http://www.worldvision.org/resources.nsf/main/G8_paper_07.pdf/$file/G8_paper_07.pdf?open&amp;lid=paper&amp;lpos=main </em></p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
Living EconomyNews Briefg8g8 meetingHeiligendammmake poverty historyworld VisionWorld NewsTue, 27 Mar 2007 17:06:26 +0000staff writers4949 at http://www.ekklesia.co.ukCampaigners gear up for G8 meetinghttp://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/4941
<!-- google_ad_section_start -->
<!-- google_ad_section_end --><div class="field field-type-text field-field-teaser">
<div class="field-items">
<div class="field-item odd">
<p>Campaigners across England and Wales are gearing up to put pressure the G8 to take urgent action over poverty, when it meets in June.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="field field-type-text field-field-body">
<div class="field-items">
<div class="field-item odd">
<p>Campaigners across England and Wales are gearing up to put pressure the G8 to take urgent action over poverty, when it meets in June. </p>
<p>They want the G8 to deliver on the pledges made two years ago as a result of the Make Poverty History campaign and do more to halve extreme poverty by 2015. </p>
<p>Charities and campaign groups in the UK will call on the UK Government to try and ensure the G8 summit delivers on a range of issues including debt cancellation and more and better aid, trade justice, healthcare, education, water and sanitation for all, and firm plans to prevent catastrophic climate change and address its impacts. </p>
<p>Helen Wolfson from Catholic aid agency CAFOD said: "G8 countries must deliver on the promises they made at Gleneagles in 2005. We are deeply concerned at the moment that some countries may fail to meet those commitments - the World Can’t Wait for action!" </p>
<p>As part of the campaign, CAFOD, together with the international Catholic networks Caritas Internationalis and CIDSE, is encouraging supporters to call on the G8 leaders to take action to ‘Make Aid Work.’ </p>
<p>The Catholic agencies want G8 countries to deliver promises to increase aid to 0.7 of national income, and to ensure that aid is used effectively to end poverty. </p>
<p>Helen says: "We are seeing the difference debt relief is making in countries such as Tanzania where primary school fees were abolished enabling 1.6 million children to return to school. </p>
<p>"Equally, aid can and is achieving so much, from immunising children and paying community nurses to providing free primary education. </p>
<p>"Aid is now rising, but not fast enough, and it must be delivered more effectively if it is to work for the poor. We must keep the pressure up to urge the G8 to take action and take action urgently." </p>
<p>CAFOD and other supporters of the World Can’t Wait campaign in the UK are organising a major event at Westminster on June 2. </p>
<p>Thousands are joining together to call on Tony Blair and German Chancellor Angela Merkel who is the President of this year’s summit, to make the G8 meeting a good one for the world’s poorest people. </p>
<p>The event will centre on a mass moment, when campaigners will join up along the Thames to raise their voices against poverty and call for justice for millions around the world. </p>
<p>The G8 summit takes place in Heiligendamm from 6 - 8 June.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
Living EconomyNews Briefcafodg8g8 meetingHeiligendammmake poverty historyWorld NewsMon, 26 Mar 2007 16:25:29 +0000staff writers4941 at http://www.ekklesia.co.ukHave a heart, US treasury told on Liberiahttp://www.ekklesia.co.uk/news/world/070204liberia
<!-- google_ad_section_start -->
<!-- google_ad_section_end --><div class="field field-type-text field-field-teaser">
<div class="field-items">
<div class="field-item odd">
<p>A national grassroots campaign mounted by Jubilee USA, the international humanitarian agency, Church World Service (the ecumenical Christian relief network) and allied organizations is urging Americans to send Valentine's Day wishes to US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, asking him to have a heart and cancel Liberia's 3.5 billion dollar debt.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="field field-type-text field-field-body">
<div class="field-items">
<div class="field-item odd">
<p>A national grassroots campaign mounted by Jubilee USA, the international humanitarian agency, Church World Service (the ecumenical Christian relief network) and allied organizations is urging Americans to send Valentine's Day wishes to US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, asking him to have a heart and cancel Liberia's 3.5 billion dollar debt.</p>
<p>The campaign is targeted to influence decision-making at the 13-14 February 2007 Liberia donors conference in Washington DC. The District's oldest multi-issue think tank, the Institute for Policy Studies, will collect all Valentines cards and messages gathered in the countrywide campaign and will deliver them to Paulson on Tuesday 6 February, it says.</p>
<p>The grassroots effort has appealed to faith houses, community and school groups across the nation to organize and submit the Valentines messages.</p>
<p>After two decades of dictatorship and civil war, creditors expect Liberia to begin servicing its debts at a cost of 80-100 million dollars per year.</p>
<p>Rich country creditors are currently insisting that Liberia make 1.5 billion dollras in back payments and accumulated interest or "arrears" before it can<br />
become eligible for any debt relief or cancellation.</p>
<p>"At that kind of repayment rate," says Church World Service Executive Director and CEO, the Rev John L. McCullough, "it would take literally over a thousand years for Liberia to repay its debt."</p>
<p>Mary Catherine Hines helped lead the Liberia Valentines effort in the Durham, North Carolina area. Hines, Associate Regional Director for Church World Service in the Carolinas, told The Durham News, "Three quarters of [Liberia's] population lives on less than a dollar a day."</p>
<p>She continued: "President Bush and the international community have repeatedly pledgedtheir support and aid to help the country rebuild, but so far they have stopped short of canceling the country's 3.5 billion dollar debt."</p>
<p>CWS' McCullough says Liberia has more pressing needs. "This once-prosperous nation is starting from scratch after ruination," says McCullough. "The United Nation's human development index ranks Liberia among the most impoverished countries in the world."</p>
<p>According to a recent Reuters report, Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf welcomed China's decision to forgive the war-torn country's<br />
debt, and asked for the upcoming donors' meeting to follow suit.</p>
<p>Africa's first democratically elected woman president, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, now leading Liberia's reconstruction, says having to pay back the 3.5 dollar billion debt makes it impossible for the country to move forward.</p>
<p>Much of Liberia's debt was incurred by the regimes of dictators Samuel Doe and Charles Taylor between 1980 and 2003. Since debt servicing was all but abandoned in the country's recent years of civil war, ballooning back payments and accumulated interest or arrears comprise most of Liberia's current debt burden.</p>
<p>As part of its current multi-programme Africa Initiative, Church World Service has supported peace and reconciliation, trauma recovery, emergency relief and rehabilitation programs in war-devastated Liberia and was one of the lead organizations urging US and world community attention to impending civil war and collapse in Liberia.</p>
<p>Jubilee Network USA is an alliance of 75 religious denominations and faith communities, human rights, environmental, labour, and community groups working for the cancellation of crushing debts to fight poverty and injustice in Asia, Africa and Latin America.</p>
<p>The Institute for Policy Studies works with academics and social movements focused on peace, justice and the environment.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
Living EconomyNews BriefcancelcancellationcwsdebtInstitute for Policy StudiesJubileejubilee 2000jubilee usaliberiamake poverty historyusWorld NewsSun, 04 Feb 2007 16:19:34 +0000staff writers531 at http://www.ekklesia.co.uk Scotland gears up for 200,000 poverty campaigners - news from ekklesiahttp://www.ekklesia.co.uk/content/news_syndication/article_050214poverty.shtml
<!-- google_ad_section_start -->
<!-- google_ad_section_end --><div class="field field-type-text field-field-teaser">
<div class="field-items">
<div class="field-item odd">
<p>Scotland is gearing up for up to 200,000 protestors, <a href="http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/content/news_syndication/article_041221mph.shtml">including many Christians</a>, as the G8 summit at Gleneagles draws closer.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="field field-type-text field-field-body">
<div class="field-items">
<div class="field-item odd">
<p>Scotland is gearing up for up to 200,000 protestors, <a href="http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/content/news_syndication/article_041221mph.shtml">including many Christians</a>, as the G8 summit at Gleneagles draws closer.</p>
<p>Campaigners, many of whom are part of the drive to Make Poverty History, are even being offered specially tailored short-break packages by a Scottish tourist board. </p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.makepovertyhistory.org/" target="blank">Make Poverty History coalition</a> sees the G8 meeting as a unique opportunity for the UK to influence industrialised countries through trade justice, debt cancellation and more and better aid. </p>
<p>Around 22,000 people packed into Trafalgar Square recently <a href="http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/content/news_syndication/article_05024mandela.shtml">to hear Nelson Mandela</a> issue a challenge to world leaders to act to make poverty history in 2005. </p>
<p>The G7 Finance Ministers failed to agree a breakthrough when they met in London, but they accepted for the first time that a massive increase in aid is urgently needed along with a new deal on debt. The Chancellor Gordon Brown <a href="http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/content/news_syndication/article_05026brown.shtml">praised the churches</a> for the part they had played. </p>
<p>The Scotsman now reports that Edinburgh and Lothians Tourist Board is hoping to attract campaigners attending the G8 summit in July summit, who will be lobbying the leaders from the worldís top industrialised nations. </p>
<p>Many will be combining their protest with a short city break, tourism leaders say. </p>
<p>Graham Birse, of Edinburgh and Lothians Tourist Board, said: "The Make Poverty History campaign, that is supported by [U2 rock star] Bono, have organised a protest which will attract a substantial number of people. They contacted us and said a number of protesters will be coming up from London and the south-east and [asked] what support and advice could we provide on accommodation and packages. </p>
<p>"It turned out that, in spite of the image that most of us have of protesters, perhaps, as dangerous and reckless individuals, they are, in fact, known to be a peaceful protest and many of the people coming are much like you and I and your readers: they have mortgages and jobs and stuff." </p>
<p>He added: "They may wish to enjoy a city a break in Edinburgh when they are here. So we asked a local tour operator to get to work on potential packages, which we could then offer to the Make Poverty History campaign to stick on their website, providing access to the usual transport and accommodation, local attractions and what is on ... that sort of stuff." </p>
<p>Early estimates put the number of protesters expected to descend on Edinburgh at 100,000 to 150,000, but police now believe that figure could rise to 200,000 and plans are in place to draft in thousands of officers from all over the country to help the local force cope. The policing bill is expected to be about £150 million, which will be picked up by the Foreign Office on behalf of the UK government, as the G8 host. </p>
<p>It is understood that Stirling Universityís halls of residence have been earmarked as accommodation for the huge influx of officers from London and elsewhere called in to help, while others may end up staying in Edinburgh Universityís Pollock Halls. </p>
<p>City residents have also been warned to expect thousands of demonstrators sleeping rough, many of them gravitating to the big parks, unable or unwilling to pay for hotel or guest house accommodation. </p>
<p>A spokeswoman for Travel Scot World said it was working in conjunction with the Make Poverty History campaign and would be organising a variety of excursions for what it described as "middle class protesters". These will include a visit to a distillery, a walking tour of Edinburgh and other local attractions. </p>
<p>The spokeswomen said: "They are intelligent, nice people who believe in the cause. There has been very negative press coverage of the nuisance protesters that will come to the G8 summit and cause havoc. But that is obviously completely different to the protesters that have been invited to this event." </p>
<p>Alan Rankin, the chief executive of the Scottish Tourism Forum, said: "Scotland is a country where free speech is welcomed so the principle of going to protest at any event is open to anybody as long as it is done within the confines of the law. </p>
<p>"But if this helps to attract spending tourists to Edinburgh, that is great. And if it helps to move tourists throughout the country and also to promote expenditure, that is a further bonus for the country."</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<p><a href="http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/content/news_syndication/article_050214poverty.shtml" target="_blank">read more</a></p>News Briefbonomake poverty historyUK NewsMon, 14 Feb 2005 12:00:00 +0000staff writers1512 at http://www.ekklesia.co.uk